You will need to sign on with your LLLID (La Leche League ID) before you can post. If you have never claimed your LLLID, create your LLLID now. To sign in, click the LLLID Sign On button in the upper right corner. Enter your LLLID Alias and click the button again.

Solids at 4 months

I started my baby boy on Rice Cereal at 3.5 months and he's done just fine. He's 5 months now and I've recently moved on to the Whole Grain Multi-grain cereal and he seems to like it much better. I want to start introducing veggies but I'm not sure how much cereal and veggies he should be eating and how often. Right now I feed him 2 tbs of cereal in the AM and 3 tbs of cereal in the PM. Is that too much? And when I start him on veggies do I cut out a tbs of cereal and add a tbs of fruit/veggies at each feeding? And when do I increase the amounts? Is there guidelines? I am still BF 5-6 times a day. BF will continue to be his main source of nutrition but how much "solids" should I be giving him and how often?

Re: Solids at 4 months

Of course, you need to go with your own feelings, and to follow your baby's own rhythms, but in general, babies do not need anything but exclusive breast milk until 6 months, and up to 12 months (according to the WHO).
at 6 months solids can be introduced, the standard guideline is 1 TBS per meal.
Since you're already way advanced of those basics, then the best thing is just to follow your baby's cues.
your bm will give him all the nutrition he needs.

Re: Solids at 4 months

If you're planning on introducing fruits and veggies now try cutting a bit on the cereal, it's fine if you want to introduce new foods but if you increase the amounts of solids you'll be displacing BM. At your baby's ages his calorie intake won't be as much as if he was 6 or 9 months, therefore he won't be eating more than he need to and to try to make space for the solids he will be drinking less milk, and also BM has more calories and nutritional value than any solid food out there for baby so you'll be decreasing something very important for him.

Re: Solids at 4 months

Tylers mom,
I started ds on cereal when he was 4 mo. We initially started with the 1 tbsp in the evening and have gradually worked my way up to 2 tbsp in the evening and 3 tbsp in the morning. I do not feel as though my milk supply has been effected at all. Actually, I feel like I have more milk now than I did when we started the cereal. He still nurses anywhere from 5-8 times a day. Anyways, I will be starting ds on veggies and fruits next week. I plan on doing the cereal in the morning and 1-2 tbsp of veggies in the evening. I will know for sure what to do after we see the pedi on Monday. If you want, I will let you know what she suggests.

Re: Solids at 4 months

We skipped cereal altogether. The only reason I considered giving cereal is because of the iron, but then I read that BM has plenty of iron in it and it is absorbed more readily than other sources (plus, your doctor will test your child's iron levels at either 9 or 12 months and then you can go from there).

You could also make your own cereal, which is cheaper and a less refined product. Your local library should have a copy of the Super Baby Food book which has lots of charts and guidelines(I believe La Leche also has a book about Whole Foods).

Re: Solids at 4 months

When I introduced solids, we started with 1-2 tbsp cereal. When they were up to 4 tbsp a meal, I added a second meal. When they gobbled down the 4 tbsp cereal, I would add fruits and veggies. The rule of thumb is 1 tbsp per year of childs age. So 1 tbsp of sweet potatoes for 1 year, 2 tbsp for 2 years, etc... is a serving size. If you make your own baby food and put it in ice cube trays, 1-2 cubes would be sufficient. By the time they were eating all of that, they were 8 months or so and ready for fingers foods to be introduced. Watch your baby and follow his cues. With my second one, I was much more laid back and offered table foods a lot earlier. He just seemed ready. At about 9 months he started drinking from a straw and we started gentle weaning then. He's 12 months old and still nursing often, but between the solids and whole milk, he's doing great and has gone at his own pace.

You could replace the cereal with fruits or veggies. This is just how I did it. Mashed banana makes a great first food, as does sweet potatoes, squash and poached pears.

Re: Solids at 4 months

Oh, I totally forgot to answer your question about how much solid food and when.

What we did was I'd offer to nurse first before my mealtime, and then I'd get DS set up in the high chair and I'd offer some solids while I ate, too. It was maybe a tablespoon or two of food at first.

At a LLL meeting, they described solids as "like dessert." DC should still be getting the majority of his/her nutrition during the first year from BM (or formula).

Similar to nursing, I offered solids "on demand." I just made them available a couple of times a day and since everything I offered was healthy I let DS decide how much to eat. We started solids between 6-7 months, but DS went through periods where he was more or less interested. There would be stretches of several weeks where he wouldn't be interested at all, and he didn't really start "eating" a lot until around his first birthday. Was it because we were in France then and he got a lot of yummy table food? Who knows.

The short answer to your question is that I didn't apply a strict formula to solids in terms of quantity, although I am picky about what I give DS: mostly organic, whole foods, making sure to also give sources of protein. Lentils were an early favorite for DS.